Southeast Asian Studies,
Vol. 29, No.2, September 1991
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties
in the Philippines (September 1972-February 1986):
With a Case in the Province of Batangas
Masataka KIMURA *
The
I Introduction
imposition of martial lawS)
President
Marcos
shattered
Philippine
In
September
democracy.
by
1972
The
Since its independence, the Philippines
country was placed under Marcos' au-
had been called the showcase of democracy
thoritarian control until the revolution of
in Asia, having acquired American political
February 1986 which restored democracy.
institutions.
At the same time, the two-party system
it had
a
Similar to the United States,
two-party
system.
The
two
collapsed.
The traditional political forces
major parties, namely, the N acionalista
lay dormant in the early years of martial
Party (NP) and the Liberal Party (LP),1)
rule when no elections were held.
had
power
elections were resumed in 1978, a single
other political
dominant party called Kilusang Bagong
parties had hardly played significant roles
Lipunan (KBL) emerged as an admin-
in shaping the political course of the
istration party under Marcos, while the
country. 2)
traditional opposition was fragmented which
alternately
through elections,
captured
while
state
When
saw the proliferation of regional parties.
* *MI§;q:,
Asian Center, University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila,
the Philippines
1) The leadership of the two parties was composed
mainly of wealthy politicians from traditional
elite families that had been entrenched in
provinces. The parties in each province were
structured based on vast networks of patronclient type relationships between individuals
cutting across social classes. This kind of
parties are hereinafter referred to as traditional
parties.
2) One major challenge to the political system as
such was the Hukbong Magpapalaya ng Bayan
(HMB) or the National Liberation Army, a
peasant army in Central and Southern Luzon,
which staged armed rebellion under the leadership of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas
(PKP) against the government in 1949. But
Meantime, different non-traditional forces
such as those that operated underground
and those that joined the protest movement,
which later snowballed after the Aquino
assassination in August 1983, emerged as
significant political actors
especially
In
opposition to Marcos.
The period from September 1972 to
February 1986 when the special presidential
it was effectively suppressed by the government
by the mid 1950s.
3) For discussions on the circumstances under
which martial law was declared and the reasons
why it was declared, see, for example, Brillantes,
Jr. [1987] and Daroy [1988].
205
election was held that triggered off the
revolution is politically a very interesting
period. This is so not only because various
political forces, including those that had
hardly been significant actors before martial
law, came into play but also because they
interacted with one another in a complicated
way. They did so sometimes as allies and
at other times as adversaries both above- and
underground leading to the overthrow of
Marcos' authoritarian regime.
Many scholars have studied the development of these various political forces and
their interaction. Many studies were
published in a competing manner shortly
before and after the revolution. They have
presented various viewpoints, interesting
interpretations and insightful analyses. 4)
However, although their studies are based
on fairly abundant data, there still is room
for further fact-searching to make significant
scholarly contributions. This is because
the details have not always been documented
sufficiently and have sometimes been misrepresented especially regarding the underground social democrats. 5) In addition,
since their studies have concentrated mostly
4) The most comprehensive works on this topic
will be Wurfel [1988] and De Dios et al. [1988].
Those from the leftist viewpoint include Malay,
Jr. [1988] and Avinales [1988]. Others include
Nemenzo [1985], Lande [1986] and Thompson
[1988].
5) The reasons why the development of the underground social democrats under the Marcos
regime has not been documented sufficiently
will be that it had been very difficult to have
access to data and that their force was relatively
small so that they did not draw so much attention as the CPP-NDF-NPA. But their role in
the anti-Marcos struggle should deserve more
attention.
206
on the national level, even factual information about what happened at the local
level has not yet been systematically
provided.
In view of this, what follows is an attempt
to give an account of how different political
forces, especially political parties, developed
and interacted with one another in the
period in question. It first inquires into
the development at the national level and
then focuses in relation to it on the province
of Batangas as a case at the local level. 6)
II The National Scene
Upon the imposition of martial law,
Marcos arrested many of his political
enemies of different persuasions and
suppressed political activities against his
government. He abolished the Congress
and suspended elections for several years.
While the people were silenced with fear
or acquiesced with a hope for social reform
and economic development, he established
his martial law regime. Under his strong
influence, a new constitution was promulgated in 1973. Its transitory provisions
and subsequent amendments virtually gave
him dictatorial powers for an indefinite
"interim" period. Marcos consolidated his
control over the military. He attacked the
economic bases of powerful political families
that he called oligarchs to be taken over
by his close associates or cronies. He
elevated technocrats to key government
positions including cabinet ministers which
6) This paper is a slightly revised version of a part
of the author's Ph.D. dissertation [Kimura
1990: 87-121].
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
had previously been given to politicians.
Faced with the situation, traditional
political forces such as the NP and the LP
whose primary activity was to gain power
and patronage through electoral contests
became inactive. They were reactivated
only in 1978 when elections were resumed.
In contrast, non-traditional political forces
came to play significant roles as opposition
to Marcos. The most important of all was
the Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP). Others included the social democrats, civil libertarians and human rights
advocates, and certain segments of the
religious
sector.
(The
Moro
National
Liberation Front (MNLF) is excluded from
Pampanga-Tarlac area, joined the CPP and
in March of that year formed its military
arm, the New People's Army (NPA).8)
The NPA started as a small army in Tarlac
with twenty automatic rifles and fifteen
handguns. By the time martial law was
declared, its armory had increased to
350 high-powered weapons. Its operational zone had already extended to the
Cagayan Valley in Northern Luzon, and it
had a few armed propaganda units in Bicol,
Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and
Mindanao [Umali Undated as quoted in
Nemenzo 1985: 57].
Under martial law, the NPA grew
rapidly despite military repression. Oppression radicalized many activists, most
the discussion here on the ground that it is
limited to Muslim Mindanao.)
of whom were students, and drove them
The CPP was founded on December 26,
1968 7 ) by Jose Ma. Sison who was then
leading the Kabataang Makabayan (KM)
underground to join the CPP-NPA. They
in turn contributed greatly to its rural
orgamzmg. As of 1983, the NPA had at
or the Patriotic Youth League. Affiliated
with the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas
(PKP) for some time, he split with it in 1967
least 12,000 full-time guerrillas and 35,000
part-time militias. It was operating in
56 out of 72 provinces, and in 400 out of
1,500 municipalities. It was argued that
because of irreconcilable differences with
its old leadership. Influenced by Mao
at least 20 percent of the barangays were
Zedong thought, the CPP committed itself
to the revolution by means of a protracted,
controlled or infiltrated by the NPA
[Nemenzo 1985: 57]. In addition, the
rural based "people's war." In January
1969, Bernabe Buscayno and his men, who
Cpp initiated the formation of the National
had been with remnants of the Hukbong
Magpapalaya ng Bayan (HMB) or the
National
Liberation
Army
m
the
to bring together all forces hostile to what it
called the "US-Marcos dictatorship."
With the NPA as one of its component
7) However, Gregg Jones suggests that the
founding congress was delayed and started on
January 3, 1969 and that the founding members
agreed that the official date would be recorded
as December 26, 1968 (the seventy-fifth anniversary of Mao Zedong's birthday) [Jones
1989: 17].
Democratic Front (NDF) in 1973 in order
organizations, the NDF has since become
a countrywide apparatus having branches
in all provinces and cities [Nemenzo
8) For an excellent account of the establishment of
the CPP, see Nemenzo [1984] and Jones [1989].
207
Undated: 21].
While many radicalized activists joined
the CPP-NPA-NDF, others with a social
democratic orientation kept a distance from
became its chairman, vice-chairman and
secretary-general respectively.
(NPDSP
cratic Socialist Party and the Katipunan
ng mga Sandigan ng Pilipino (KASAPI).
The PDSP has its origin in different
was renamed PDSP in 1980.)
In the early years of martial law, their
force was so small that they did not draw
the attention of the government. In
December 1977, the NPDSP along with
some anti-Marcos politicians, most of whom
were LP leaders, created an alliance called
Katipunan ng Bayan para sa Kalayaan
(KABAKA) to boycott the referendum in
that month. The NPDSP provided the
groups organized by the activists at the
turn of the decade. In 1971, the Katipunan
mass base for the politicians whose political
machinery had broken down with the advent
ng mga Demokratikong Sosyalistang
Pilipino (KDSP) or the Philippine Social
Democratic Movement was formed by
seventeen such groups, among them the
Hasik-Kalayaan headed by Norberto
of the martial law regime. In the Interim
Batasang Pambansa elections of April
1978, it actively supported and campaigned
for the LABAN candidates in Metro
Manila. It also initiated the April 6 noise
barrage and provided poll watchers. Immediately after the elections, the NPDSP
was declared a subversive organization by
the government, and its principal leaders
were arrested. From then on, realizing
them and continued their own anti-Marcos
struggle. There emerged two significant
organizations of social democrats, namely,
the Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng
Pilipinas (PDSP) or the Philippine Demo-
Gonzales and the Kilusan ng mga Anak ng
Kalayaan by Fr. Romeo J. Intengan.
In May 1973, the KDSP was reorganized
into a political party to be called the
PDSP. The party described itself as
Filipino nationalist, democratic, socialist
and committed to the armed struggle for
national liberation [PDSP 1983 as quoted
in De Dios et al. 1988: 434-435]. In
1976, the PDSP and another social democratic organization, namely, the Lakas
Diwa formed in 1970 by Ed Garcia
together with Noel Tolentino, Conrado
Limcaoco, Ed Valenzuela, Mar Canonigo
and others, merged to form the N agkakaisang Partido Demokratiko-Sosyalista ng
Pilipinas (NPDSP) or the United Philippine
Democratic Socialist Party. Norberto
Gonzales, Fr. Romeo Intengan (the ideologue of the PDSP) and Mar Canonigo
208
that parliamentary struggle was meaningless under the dictatorship, it boycotted all
the elections before 1986 and concentrated
in armed struggle. In 1980, the PDSP
set up a headquarters in Sabah in alliance
with the MNLF. By this time, it had
established its military arm, the Sandigan. 9 )
KASAPI was founded in 1970 by young
activists, among them Jose Luis Alcuaz
and Herman Laurel who became Chairman
9) The account of the PDSP here is based on the
author's interviews with Mar Canonigo, Quezon
City, July 29,1988; Roy Oliveros, Quezon City,
September 8, 1989; and Norberto Gonzales,
Quezon City, September 13,1989.
M. KIMURA: Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
It was based
in charge of membership education and
training. 10)
in the Jesuit-run Apostolic Center. When
martial law was declared, some leaders were
captured; members became inactive; and
the organization experienced a set back.
In August 1977, Marcos announced his
intention to hold Interim Batasang
Pambansa elections and local elections by
the end of 1978 as a step toward what he
In mid-1973, KASAPI started to rebuild
by organizing students, the urban poor
and a segment of professionals. Along
called normalization. The former were
held in April 1978, whereas the latter were
held only in January 1980. Behind this
with the PDSP and Lakas Diwa, it partici-
move of Marcos was growing domestic
pated in the negotiations, which practically
criticism against the dictatorial government
started in 1973, to unite the social democrats. But, when the NPDSP was formed,
KASAPI did not join it. Like the PDSP,
KASAPI operated underground and opted
and external pressure especially from the
human rights diplomacy of the Carter
Administration. The Interim Batasang
Pambansa elections were held under
for armed struggle against Marcos.
(For
a system of region-wide voting districts
this Fr. Blanco, an advocate of active
nonviolence, became inactive beginning in
with block voting in contrast to the premartial law congressional elections which
1975.)
had a single-member district system.
and Secretary General, with
Blanco as spiritual leader.
Fr. Jose
The armed elements of KASAPI,
The
in collaboration with certain elements of
resumption of elections reactivated the
the
traditional political forces.
US-based
anti-Marcos
opposition,
formed the April 6 Liberation Movement,
an urban guerrilla force responsible for the
In preparation for the elections, Marcos
as the titular head of the N acionalista Party
series of explosions in Metro Manila in
1980.
KASAPI also participated III the
called a meeting of the National Directorate
of the party on February 1, 1978 to re-
electoral struggle. In the 1978 elections,
it formed the Partido Sambayanang Pilipino
reorgamzmg the party, the following
proposal which was made by former
and fielded several candidates in Metro
Manila. At the same time, it supported
Speaker Jose B. Laurel, Jr. was adopted:
organize
its
ranks.
As
a
method
of
When
To organize a coalition movement,
the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP)
was formed in 1982, KASAPI cadres
united front or umbrella organization
selected candidates of LABAN.
entered the party clandestinely, recruited
new cadres through PDP (later through
PDP-LABAN) and operated within the
party. KASAPI claims that it had strong
influence in forming the platform of the
party and in the party institute which was
that shall include as its members N acionalistas, Liberals, veterans as well as
other political sectoral and socio-civic
aggrupations and individuals who adhere
10) The account of KASAPI here is based on the
author's interviews with Boyet Montiel and
June Lee, Quezon City, October 18, 1989.
209
to the ideals and principles of the New
Society, and which shall field its own
candidates in the Interim Batasang
Pambansa elections. [KBL 1985: 23]
The coalition movement was denominated as the Bagong Lipunang Kilusanng
Nagkakaisang Nacionalista-Liberal, Atbp.,
which was later renamed Kilusang Bagong
Lipunan (KBL), and started with the following interim officers [t·bid.: 24-25]:
President
Secretary General
Treasurer
Regional Chairmen
Region I
Region II
Region III
Region IV
Region IV-A
Region VI
Region VII
Region VIII
Region IX
Region X
Region XI
Region XII
Ferdinand E. Marcos
Jose A. Rono .
Luis Yulo
Conrado Estrella
Juan Ponce Enrile
Eduardo Cojuangco
Imelda Romualdez·Marcos
Felicisimo San Luis
Roberto S. Benedicto
Lorenzo Teves
Benjamin Romualdez
Vicente M. Cerilles
Emmanuel Pelaez
Antonio O. Floreindo
Ali Dimaporo
The KBL attracted not only most of the
Nacionalista politicians but also many of
those who were affiliated with the Liberal
Party and others. A segment of the NP
under Jose Roy, its acting president, did
not join the KBL, but adopted the candidates of KBL as its own in the elections
[COMELEC 1979b: 3].
As for the Liberal Party, three principal
leaders, namely, former Senators Gerardo
Roxas, J ovito Salonga and Benigno Aquino,
Jr. who were President, Vice-President and
Secretary General of the Party respectively,
were first united in participating in the
210
elections. But the adoption by Marcos of
block voting led the leaders to decide to
boycott. However, Aquino, who had been
sentenced to death by the Military Tribunal
and detained m Fort Bonifacio, was
convinced by former Senators Lorenzo
Tanada and Francisco Rodrigo that it would
be better for him to launch his candidacy
[LP Undated: 18]. The election process
would provide him with the opportunity to
air his views [PDP-LABAN Undated:
1-2]. This divided the Liberal Party.
Since Aquino was detained in Fort
Bonifacio, Rodrigo invited opposition
political leaders to form a slate to be headed
by Aquino In Metro Manila. After
a series of marathon meetings, the following
twenty-one candidates were selected:
From the Liberal Party Leadership:
Benigno S. Aquino
Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo
Neptali Gonzales
Alejandro Roces
Ramon Mitra
Primitivo de Leon
Cesar T. Lucero
Rosario Planas
Antonio Martinez
From the Nacionalista Party ranks:
10. Ernesto Maceda
11. Juan T. David
12. Felicisimo Cabigao
13. Jaime Ferrer
From Progressives and Independents:
14. Emmanuel "Noli" T. Santos
15. Ernesto Rondon
16. Aquilino Pimentel
17. Teofisto Guingona
18. Napoleon Rama
And from the Labor, Community and Youth
sector:
19. Trinidad Herrera
20. Fernando Barican
21. Alexander Boncayao
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
I t appeared that the LP which opted for
five, only Pusyon Bisaya and the Mindanao
boycott as a party would not allow the use
Alliance could elect assemblymen.
of its name.
Consequently, since the slate
overall result of the elections was an
was composed of individuals from different
groups, Aquino decided to form an umbrella
overwhelming victory for the KBL.12)
Whether to participate or not in the
1980 local elections was another issue that
organization.
The organization was named
The
Lakas ng Bayan or LABAN for short, and
divided the opposition.
While the LP
Tanada became its chairman [ibz'd.: 2-3].
and LABAN, let alone the CPP and the
the
social democrats, were steadfast in their
united front idea with the left as far as
boycott position, many other traditional
taking in four non-traditional, left leaning
parties opted for participation.
personalities, namely, Barican, Boncayao,
of the NP including the Laurels that had
Herrera and Planas in the ticket.
The Left
been under the KBL umbrella split with
under the leadership of the CPP's Manila-
Marcos and fielded candidates under the
Rizal regional committee supported the
banner of the NP.
Interestingly,
LABAN
projected
LABAN candidates clandestinely.ll)
A segment
The result of the local elections was again
Besides LABAN, many new political
an overwhelming victory for the KBL.
parties were formed to participate in the
All but four elected governors were KBL
Interim Batasang Pambansa elections: the
in the country's seventy-three provinces;
number of registered political parties, both
old and new, at the time of the elections
all but six elected city mayors were KBL in
counted thirty-two.
Many of the new
ones were regional parties [COMELEC
1979a: 512-516].
Though most of the registered parties
participated in the elections, only five could
the
fifty-nine
cities.
Most
other
local
elective positions were also taken by the
KBL. The four non-KBL governors were
Natalia F. Dumlao (NUL) of Nueva
Viscaya, Jose C. Laurel V (NP) of
Batangas, Federico O.
Mengote (Inde-
put up a good fight against the KBL.
pendent) of Eastern Samar, and Homobono
They were the Lakas ng Bayan in Region
Adaza (Mindanao Alliance) of Misamis
IV (Metro Manila), Bicol Saro in Region V
Oriental.
(Bicol), Pusyon Bisaya in Region VII
(Central Visayas), Concerned Citizen's
were Francisco N epomuceno (Independent)
The six non-KBL city mayors
(Western
of Angeles City, Julian C. Medina, Jr.
(NP) of Cavite City, Cesar C. Climaco
Mindanao Alliance in
(CCA) of Zamboanga City, Aquilino Q.
Regions IX, X and XI (Western, Northern
Pimentel, Jr. (NUL-Mindanao Alliance) of
Aggrupation
III
Mindanao), and
and
Southern
Region
Mindanao).
IX
Among the
11) For the coalition politics among different
opposition forces under the Marcos regime from
the leftist viewpoint, see Malay, Jr. [1988] and
Avinales [1988].
12) In fact, while the Pusyon Bisaya won thirteen
seats, the Mindanao Alliance and a group of
independent candidates identified as Kunsensya
ng Bayan one each, the KBL won all the other
seats. See COMELEC [1979a: 46-48, 329346].
211
Cagayan de Oro City, Elias B. Lopez (NP)
of Davao City, and Teodoro V. Juliano
(Independent) of Cotabato City [COME-
Jose Roy did not attend the committee and
claimed his NP presidency on the ground
that he had been elected president by the
LEC Undated-a; Undated-b].
One reason for the sweeping success of
the KBL both in the 1978 Interim Batasang
Pambansa elections and in the 1980 local
elections was the widespread use of election
frauds. But the most important reason was
that most traditional politicians especially
Directorate of the party in 1971 [Anonymous
at the local level sided with the Administration because Marcos controlled all the
sources of patronage and there was no
prospect of toppling him in the near future.
Therefore, in the 1978 elections, the KBL
had a well-fueled nationwide organization,
while the opposition was fragmented and
poorly organized; in the 1980 elections,
many local candidates competed for nomination by KBL.
1980; 1, 6]. Puyat died in March 1981.
The Ad Hoc Committee called a meeting
of the National Executive Committee on
May 10 and recommended to convene the
National Directorate on May 11, in which
Jose B. Laurel, Jr. was elected as the new
party president [NP 1989; 6].
In June 1980, negotiations for a coalition
of all opposition parties started among
prominent politicians, leading to the formation of the United Democratic Opposition (UNIDO), an umbrella organization,
under the joint chairmanship of Jose B.
a group of prominent NP leaders who had
split with Marcos started to reorganize the
party. On March 28, 1980, former
Senator Gil J. Puyat (the party president on
leave in favor of former Senator Jose Roy),
created the Ad Hoc Committee on the
Reorganization and Revitalization of the
Nacionalista Party, and appointed to the
committee former Vice-President Fernando
Lopez, former Speaker Jose B. Laurel, Jr.,
Laurel, Jr. and Gerardo Roxas. Coalesced
under UNIDO were eight political parties,
namely, the NP, LP, NUL, the Interim
National Assembly Association (I NAA),
a segment of Pusyon Bisaya, the Mindanao
Alliance, Bicol Saro and the CCA.
LABAN also joined UNIDO on a case-tocase
basis
[Laurel,
Jr. 1981: 2J.
UNIDO's executive committee (the policyand decision-making body which was also
under co-chairmen Laurel, Jr. and Roxas)
was composed of the following members;
former President Diosdado Macapagal,
former Vice-President Fernando Lopez,
former Senators Jose J. Roy, Domacao
Alonto and Dominador R. Aytona with
former Senators Salvador H. Laurel, Eva
Estrada-Kalaw,
Jovito
R.
Salonga,
Salvador H. Laurel as interim Secretary
General. On the following day, Jose B.
Laurel, Jr. was elected Chairman of the
committee [Laurel, Jr. 1981: 1]. Incidentally, this caused the split of the NP
into the Laurel wing and the Roy Wing.
Dominador R. Aytona, Ambrosio Padilla,
Francisco Rodrigo, Lorenzo M. Tanada,
Rene Espina and Mamintal Tamano,
former Representative Rogaciano M.
Mercado, former Foreign Affairs Secretary
Salvador P. Lopez, 1971 Constitutional
Shortly after the 1980 local elections,
212
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
convention
Delegates
Abraham
F.
Sarmiento and Antonio C. Alano, Atty.
Luis A. Jose, Assemblymen Valentino
Legaspi and Reuben Canoy, Governor
Homobono A. Adaza, Mayor Aquilino Q.
Pimentel, and Economist Emmanuel Q.
Yap [UNIDO 1985: 1].
On August 28, 1980, about two hundred
leaders of the nine groups under UNIDO
The general public were still apathetic.
In addition, the departure of Benigno
Aquino, Jr. for the United States in May
1980 followed by Jovito Salonga in March
1981 and Gerardo Roxas in June 1981
ostensibly for medical reasons weakened
the opposition leadership. But, the
opposition's efforts to expand and consolidate their forces continued. The process
signed a document prepared by the executive committee and entitled "A National
Covenant for Freedom." The covenant
may be described as a kind of tug-of-war
among different political groups and
personalities in their attempts to unite the
listed five goals topped by "the immediate
and absolute termination of the Marcos
opposition against Marcos who was still
enjoying his comfortable hold on power.
dictatorship,"
The formation of the Social Democratic
Party (SDP)13) in December 1981 and the
and
"the
unconditional
dismantling of martial rule and the holding
of free, honest and orderly elections, in
inauguration of the PDP in February 1982
were among the noteworthy events in the
development of the opposition after the
order to establish a truly democratic and
representative system of government
[Laurel, Jr. 1981: 3]."
In January 1981, Marcos lifted martial
law. Then, after holding a plebiscite in
presidential election. The first attempt to
unite the opposition began with an "Agreement for Unification" signed iIi February
April on a set of constitutional amendments
to change the parliamentary form of
1982 by Jose B. Laurel, Jr., Diosdado
Macapagal, Lorenzo M. Tanada and Luis
government to a presidential system, which
was approved III spite of UNIDO's
campaign for "No" votes, he called
a presidential election to be held in June.
UNIDO boycotted the election on the
ground that they could not expect free
A. Jose, representing NP, LP, LABAN
and PDP respectiv~ly. The leaders of the
four parties thereby agreed to work for the
unification of all opposition parties and
groups towards one political party [Laurel,
and honest election.
Marcos won handily.
But, though there were thirteen presidential
candidates including Alejo Santos who ran
under the NP-Roy Wing, the boycott by
the major opposition group reduced the
credibility of the election.
In spite of a certain extent of success in
the boycott movement, however, the
opposition could not gain much headway.
Jr. et al. 1982]. This resulted in the
expansion of UNIDO.
By April 1982, three more parties
including the PDP joined UNIDO,
13) The SDP was formed by former Information
Minister Francisco Tatad who had split with
Marcos at the time of the 1980 local elections
and joined the NP, Assemblyman Reuben
Canoy who had left the Mindanao Alliance, and
Assemblyman Hilario G. Davide, Jr., who had
been with the Pusyon Bisaya.
213
extending the number of its member parties
to twelve. At the same time, following the
demise of Gerardo Roxas, UNIDO
underWeht a major leadership reshuffle on
April 22. Instead of the co-chairmanship,
it was placed under a single presidency;
and Salvador H. Laurel (a younger brother
of Jose B. Laurel, Jr.) was elected
president. UNIDO at this point gathered
National Union for Liberation
Rogaciano Mercado
UNIDO-Central Visayas
Valentin Legaspi
Bicol Saro
Salvador Princesa
Interim National Assembly Organization
Abraham Sarmiento
Advisory Council
Chairman
Diosdado Macapagal
Vice-Chairman
Fernando Lopez
most of the major opposition parties and
It also involved U.S.-based opposition
prominent opposition leaders under its
umbrella. Its leadership had the following
composition:
leaders like Benigno Aquino, Jr., Raul
Manglapus and J ovito Salonga, who
constituted UNIDO's External Advisory
Executive Committee
President
Salvador H. Laurel
Executive Vice-President
Eva Estrada Kalaw
Secretary-General
Abraham F. Sarmiento
National Treasurer
Gemiliano 'Mel' Lopez
National Vice- Presidents
for Metro Manila
Neptali A. Gonzales
for North and Central Luzon
Pablito V. Sanidad
for Southern Luzon and Eicol
Dominador R. Aytona
for Eastern Visayas Decoroso Rosales
for Western Visayas Antonio Gatmaitan
for Eastern Mindanao
Homobono Adaza
for Western Mindanao
Mamintal Tamano
Council·of Leaders
Chairman
Ambrosio Padilla
Vice-Chairman
Francisco Rodrigo
Members (all the heads of the political parties
and groups)
Mindanao Alliance
Homobono Adaza
Concerned Citizens' Aggrupation
Cesar C. Climaco
Timek Ti U mili
Tito Dupaya
Kabataang Pilipino
Luis Mario M. General
PDP
Luis A. Jose
National Organization of Women and LP
Eva Estrada Kalaw
NP
Jose B. Laurel, Jr.
Group. The formal name of UNIDO was
changed to the United Nationalist Democratic Organization with the same Acronym
[UNI DO
1985: 2-3J.
The reorganization of UNIDO reflected
the strengthening position of Salvador H.
Laurel in the organization. But the unity
of the opposition was so fragile due to their
internal leadership struggle that UNIDO
remained as an umbrella organization in
spite of the "Agreement for Unification."
In June 1982, the PDP and LABAN
entered into a merger agreement to form
the PDP-LABAN with Tanada as chairman
and Luis Jose as co-chairman. The merger
was formalized in a party convention in
February 1983 [Anonymous 1982: 1, 14;
PDP 1983: 3]. The PDP-LABAN remained outside UNIDO. The merger
united the mass-based organization of the
PDP and the traditional politicians of
LABAN. It was also geographically
complementary since LABAN was Metro
Manila-based while the PDP was better
organized in the Visayas and Mindanao.
The assassination of Benigno Aquino,
214
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
Jr., the arch political enemy of Marcos, on
August 21, 1983 changed the political
situation overnight. Marcos'
political
credibility plunged into a critical level.
An economic crisis followed. A citizens'
protest movement arose in a great magni-
though the relations between the two were
not necessarily cordial except for the
PDP-LABAN.
The first major grouping of the protest
movement was the Justice for Aquino,
Various
Justice for All Movement (JAJA) which
was launched as early as August 25 with
forms of frequent mass action mobilized
a great number of people.
Lorenzo Tanada as chairman. Barely two
months after its inception, it had grown to
The protest movement was carried out
by numerous, different groups, large and
about ninety chapters and organizations
[Diokno 1988: 134]. Among the member
small. The majority of them were formed
one after another immediately after the
organizations were the August Twenty-One
Movement (ATOM) led by Agapito "Butz"
assassination. One of the most important
aspects of the movement was the involve-
Aquino, the Kilusang sa Kapangyarihan at
Karapatan ng Bayan (KAAKBAY) led by
ment of the urban middle class that had
been generally apolitical. Their groups,
which were called cause-oriented groups,
joined the movement with the groups of
students, workers, the urban poor, civil
former Senator Jose Diokno, the Alliance
of Makati Associations (AMA) , the Alliance
of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity and Nationalism, Inc. (MABINI),
libertarians, etc.
It should not be overlooked here that
the Mamamayang N agkaisa kay Aquino
(MANA), the Concerned Artists of the
behind the protest movement were different
opposition forces that were trying to exploit
the highly politicized masses in their favor.
Philippines (CAP), the Kilusang Mayo
For example, the PDSP tried to recruit
new members and to organize the masses
or to penetrate into their organizations to
give them a political direction. 14) So did
KASAPI.15) It is natural to assume that
for Justice, Freedom and Democracy
(NAJFD),
the
Samahang para sa
Pananampalataya at Katarungan (SAPAK)
tude especially in Metro Manila.
Uno (KMU), the League of Filipino
Students (LFS), the Nationalist Alliance
the Ecumenical Movement for Justice
and Peace (EMJP), the Task Force
the CPP-NDF did the same. Also,
prominent businessmen and professionals,
some of whom had been close to Benigno
Detainees of the
SANDIWA, etc. 16 )
Aquino, Jr., started to organize. The
traditional political parties also tried to
join hands with the protest. movement,
Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL) was
held upon the initiative of Agapito "Butz"
14) Norberto Gonzales Interview, September 13,
1989.
16) Interview with Reli German, November 23,
15) June Lee Interview, October 18, 1989.
Philippines (TFD),
In January 1984, the Kongresso ng
Aquino.
It was an attempt to unite all
1989, Makati, Metro Manila; interview with
Chito Gascon, November 28,1989, Quezon City.
215
the opposition forces. It invited a wide
spectrum of political elements from the
right to the left including politicians and
leaders of the protest movement. The
J AJA with almost the same member
organizations and organized boycott activi-
congress chose fifteen leaders who would
constitute KOMPIL's Council of Leaders,
its highest governing body. But the
question of whether to boycott or participate
in the Batasang Pambansa elections of May
divided KOMPIL. The leaders reached
an agreement on a compromise formula
called "A Call for Meaningful Elections."
I t stipulated certain conditions to be met
for the opposition to participate in the
elections. The conditions included the
repeal of Amendment No. 6 and other
I t has to be noted, however, that some
personalities in the protest movement, most
notably Corazon Aquino, the widow of
Benigno Aquino, Jr., opted for participation. The newly formed National
Citizens' Movement for Free Elections
(NAMFREL) led by Jose Concepcion also
advocated for participation [Diokno 1988:
oppressive decrees, general amnesty and
release of all political detainees, appointment of independent-minded individuals
to the COMELEC, etc. [ibid.: 149-152].
These conditions were not met by Marcos.
But most of the traditional political parties
including UNIDO decided to participate
in the elections. The PDP-LABAN was
divided over the issue of participation.
To avoid confrontation, the party left it
to the provincial and city assemblies to
decide for themselves [Nolasco 1984: 14].
The issue together with the leadership
struggle split the LP into the Salonga
Wing, which boycotted the elections, and
the Kalaw Wing, which participated [LP
Undated: 22]. The former left UNIDO;
the latter remained under it. On the other
hand, the major groups in the protest
movement under J AJA decided to boycott
the elections. They formed the Coalition
of Organizations for the Restoration of
Democracy (CORD). CORD took over
216
ties such as Lakad para sa Bayan
(LAKBAYAN) [Anonymous 1984: 1, 2].
151].
In spite of the division between those for
participation and those for boycott, the
opposition could make much headway in
the elections. Out of the 183 elective seats
of the Batasang Pambansa contested, the
opposition could win 64 (including 4 NPRoy Wing candidates) or about one third,
while the KBL won 112, the remaining 7
went to independent candidates. Most of
the victorious opposition candidates belonged either to UNIDO or to the PDPLABAN [COMELEC Undated-d]. Compared with the previous elections, the
result clearly indicated the declining support
for Marcos. Even some ranking KBL
members such as Vicente Paterno (a former
Minister of Public Highways and of
Industry) and Emmanuel Pelaez (former
Vice-President), had left the party because
of the Aquino assassination [Anonymous
1983: 1, 2]. Paterno joined N AMFREL.
Luis Villafuerte, a former Minister of
Trade, also left the KBL and was elected to
the Batasang Pambansa under UNIDO.
In early 1984, a small group of influential
businessmen and professionals!7) started to
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the PtJilippines
consider a method of selecting the oppopresidential candidate.
involving mainly the opposition Batasang
Pambansa assemblymen in order to adopt
They came up with the so-called fast-track
a method of selecting common candidates
system, a contingency plan in case of
sudden holding of a presidential election.
In November 1984, Lorenzo Tanada,
Corazon Aquino and Jaime Ongpin became
for the local elections and the presidential
election scheduled for 1986 and for 1987
respectively. The NUC was composed of
representatives of different political parties
convenors to put the contingency plan in
place. In its original blue print, the choice
[Foz 1984: 1, 12J. Cecilia Munoz Palma
and Francisco Rodrigo became its chairman
of the opposition's presidential candidate
was left to the eleven possible standard
and vice-chairman. The method of
selecting common candidates presented by
bearers (who were chosen by the Convenor
Group) and the three convenors [Cunanan
the NUC in a national unification conference in March 1985 was more or less a con-
1985a:
ventional one which was to start at the
sition's
common
26-29].
The
eleven
possible
standard bearers were Agapito Aquino,
Jose S. Diokno, Teofisto Guingona, Eva
local level [Foz
Negotiations
Estrada Kalaw, Salvador Laurel, Raul
Manglapus, Ramon Mitra, Ambrosio
Padilla, Aquilino Pimentel, Rafael Salas,
Group and the NUC started as early as
December 1984 in order to unite the two
groups. But the process of the negotiations
were very difficult. The NUC criticized
and J ovito Salonga.
The effort of the
1985: 1, 19].
between the
Convenor
the
the fast-track system as undemocratic,
Declaration of Unity, a document signed
by the eleven possible standard bearers and
the three convenors or by their proxies
while the Convenor Group maintained the
necessity to meet the emergency situation.
The first major breakthrough came in
except for Laurel and Kalaw.
Almost in parallel with the Convenor
April 1985 when the two groups accepted
an agreement made by Corazon Aquino
Group, the National Unification Committee (NUC) was set up by UNIDO
and Cecilia Munoz Palma.
Convenor
Group
first
resulted in
17) Later in 1984, these businessmen and professionals formed a cause-oriented group called
MANINDIGAN. The founding members of
MANINDIGAN included Jaime Ongpin,
Ramon del Rosario, Jr., Alfredo Benson, Noel
Soriano, Joaquin Bernas, Ricardo Lopa, Patricia
Licuanan, Lucina Teodro, Jesus Ayala, Narcisa
Escaler and N arzalina Lim with Rodolfo
Ascuna as legal counsel. After the EDSA
revolution, many of these people came to play
important roles in the Aquino government
occupying key positions including a number of
cabinet posts.
The agreement
limited presidential aspirants in a snap
presidential election to one each from five
major political parties and national organizations. These five parties and organizations were the LP, NP, UNIDO,
PDP-LABAN and Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (BAY AN) which was then
under preparation. But the question on
how the final candidate was to be chosen
was left to further negotiations [Anonymous
1985: 1, 8]. It should not be overlooked
here that Salvador Laurel who was at the
217
helm of UNIDO which had been building
up its nationwide machinery had an
advantage in the conventional method,
while the Convenors Group that was
involved in the protest movement which was
heavily concentrated in Metro Manila
could exert more political influence in the
fast-track system.
In line with the agreement, Salvador
Laurel was proclaimed as UNIDO's
presidential candidate in its convention in
June. But, other parties had difficulty in
choosing their standard bearers.
Meanwhile, efforts of the protest
movement, which were in a slump after
the Batasang Pambansa elections, to revitalize led to an attempt to form a new
alliance called Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAY AN). The negotiations to
form BAYAN started early 1985. Its
founding congress was held in May.
By this time, three major groupings In
the protest movement became clearly
differentiated. They were the so-called
national democrats, social democrats and
liberal democrats,18) Their struggle for
the leadership of BAYAN marred the
18) The national democrats were in the furthest left
among the three. Their program resembled
that of the underground left, though they
advocate militant but nonviolent struggle.
They included the KMU, LFS and NAJFD
among the largest member organizations. It is
suspected that many organizations of the national democrats are infiltrated by the underground left. The social democrats included
sectoral organizations initiated by the PDSP and
KASAPI. Cadres of the two underground
organizations also formed the Filipino Social
Democratic Movement (FSDM) with other
leaders of social democrats' organizations. The
liberal democrats consisted mostly of organi.
218
attempt to unite the protest movement.
On the second day of the founding congress,
the social democrats and the liberal democrats walked out because of their discord
with the national democrats over the
accreditation of voting delegates. Thus
only the national democrats that were in
the furthest left among the three remained
inBAYAN. The other two groups formed
another umbrella organization called
Bansang N agkaisa sa Diwa at Layunin
(BANDILA) in August [Diokno 1988:
158-162].
As the possibility of the snap presidential
election grew, the controversy between the
NUC and the Convenor Group over the
selection of the opposition's presidential
candidate was taken over by a new development, that is, the Cory Aquino for
President Movement (CAPM). It was
launched with Joaquin "Chino" Roces as
Chairman on October 15, 1985. The
purpose of the movement was to draft
Corazon Aquino by getting one million
signatures of endorsement from the people
and raising 30 million pesos by December
31,1985. The cause oriented groups under
BANDILA and the PDP-LABAN greatly
contributed to the movement by mobilizing
their organizations to get signatures.
On November 3, 1985, Marcos, realizing
the necessity to seek a new mandate and
pressured by the U.S. government, announced his intention to call a snap election
through an interview program on American
television. This set in fast motion the
opposition's efforts to select a common
zations of businessmen and professionals among
them MANINDIGAN.
M. KIMURA: Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
presidential candidate.
On November 21,
agreement was reached between the two.
a new coalition called Laban ng Bayan was
Laurel gave way to Aquino and became
her vice-presidential candidate. She ac-
organized by eight political parties and
organizations, namely, the LP-Salonga
Wing, the PDP-LABAN, Panaghiusa, the
Young Philippine Party, Bicol Saro, the
NUCD,
the
Convenor
Group
and
BANDILA. It endorsed Corazon Aquino
as its presidential candidate [Laban ng
Bayan
1985].
cepted his condition that both of them
should run under the banner of UNIDO
[Cunanan 1985b: 6-7]. The Laban ng
Bayan and UNIDO made a coalition,
which was formalized during the election
campaign period.
Thus, the snap election turned out to be
On November 26, the CAPM achieved
one million signatures. On the next day,
a contest between the KBL's Marcos and
Arturo M. Tolentino, his hand-picked
Corazon Aquino, who had appeared re-
running mate, on the one hand and
the UNIDO-Laban ng Bayan coalition's
luctant at the beginning, stated that she
would run for president if Cabinet Bill No.7
which called for the special election for
President and Vice-President was finally
signed into law.
On December 2, the bill
Aquino and Laurel on the other hand,
with both legal leftist forces under BAYAN
and the underground CPP-NDF boycotting
the election.
Almost all the political parties
was signed into law by Marcos after it was
and organizations were aligned into the
approved
On the next day, she affirmed her candidacy.
By December 6, five more parties adhered
three groups. The NP-Roy Wing which
had been closely aligned with the KBL
supported the Marcos-Tolentino ticket.
to
the
There were two other presidential candi-
Mindanao Alliance led by Homobono
Adaza, the Muslim Federal Party led by
dates including Reuben Canoy who ran
under the Social Democratic Party and four
Abul Khayr Alonto, the NUL led by
other vice-presidential candidates including
Eva Estrada Kalaw of the LP-Kalaw Wing.
by the
Laban ng
Batasang
Bayan.
Pambansa.
They were
Rogaciano Mercado, the Christian SocialDemocratic Party (CSDP) led by Francisco
Tatad, and Laban ni Ninoy sa Gitnang
Luzon led by Bren Guiao [ibid. : Exhibit D].
One salient aspect of the Aquino-Laurel
campaign was that a great number of
The first three had been with UNIDO.
volunteers together with the numerous
It seems that they had just switched from
cause oriented groups under BANDILA
UNIDO to Laban ng Bayan or, synonymously, from Laurel to Aquino.
participated in the campaign and vigil
activities. The activities of these volunteers
By this time, the negotiation between
Aquino and Laurel had become the focus
were coordinated through VICTORY
headed by Alfredo Benson, while the
of the unification of the opposition.
campaign activities of the political parties
December
11~
On
the last day to file their
certificates of candidacy, a last minute
But they were relatively insignificant.
were coordinated through the
Aquino-
Laurel National Secretariat placed under
219
Paul Aquino and Violeta R. Laurel. 19)
reelected in 1969 posed a challenge to the
On the other hand, Marcos' side launched
provincial leadership of the Laurels.
the Marcos-Tolentino Movement to coordinate the campaign activities of indi-
their position was not shaken. 21 )
The declaration of martial law made
viduals and groups that were not affiliated
to KBL but were supporting the Marcos-
inactive the political competition among
the traditional political forces in Batangas
Tolentino team. 20 )
for several years in which elections were
suspended. Most of the politicians in-
III A Provincial Scene (A Case
in Batangas)
cluding
the
Laurels
acquiesced
But
under
martial rule. Senator Jose Diokno, a vocal
Marcos critic, was arrested. After his
Politics in Batangas as well as in other
release in 1974, he continued his anti-
provinces had been dominated by wealthy
political families that competed with one
Marcos struggle and initiated the Free
Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the
another for political power. Of them, the
Laurels had grown the most powerful within
Kilusan sa Kapangyarihan at Karapatan
ng Bayan (KAAKBAY). But they were
a fairly short period after independence
under the leadership of Jose P. Laurel,
based in Metro Manila. In the meantime,
the underground opposition, namely the
CPP-NDF-NPA, the PDSP and KASAPI,
Sr., the war-time President and Senator,
and Jose B. Laurel, Jr., the three-time
House Speaker. Since independence, most
penetrated into Batangas.
of the congressmen and governors had been
The beginning of the CPP-NDF-NPA's
penetration into Batangas can be traced
N acionalistas, though there had been many
non-Nacionalistas in the town-level elective
back to several founding members of the
KM who hailed from Batangas, specifically
posItIons. Since the Laurels had always
been with the NP, this fact means that they
N asugbu, Sto. Tomas, Batangas City and
San Juan. In 1969, the KM's provincial
and their allies (the most notable of them
Feliciano Leviste who held the governorship
from 1947 to 1971) had dominated politics
organization was founded by Jose Luneta;
and Rodrigo Javier became its chairman.
In 1970, that of the Samahang Demo-
in the province. Maria Kalaw Katigbak
from Lipa City who was elected to the
kratikong Kabataan (SDK) (a splinter
group of the KM which later reconciled
Senate under the LP in 1961 and Jose
with it) was established by Guillermo
Diokno from Taal who was also elected to
Garno, who became its chairman. In 1971,
both the KM and the SDK conducted
the Senate under the NP in 1963 and
19) Interview with Paul Aquino, Makati, Metro
Manila, March 13, 1986.
20) Interview with an officer of the MarcosTolentino Movement, Makati, Metro Manila,
February 1, 1986.
220
a series of teach-ins in the province to
expand their organizations. Upon the
declaration of martial law, they suffered
21) For a brief account of the pre-martial law
Batangas politics, see Machado [1972: 59-73].
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
a severe setback because of the arrest of
Center. 24)
their
of the social democrats in Batangas seem to
leaders.
Some
members
inactive because of fear.
became
But some went
underground to sustain the organizations.
All told, however, the forces
have been relatively insignificant.
The
organizations
of the
traditional
The expansion of the underground left
political forces were reactivated at the time
started in 1974 when two groups of CPP
of the 1978 Interim Batasang Pambansa
elections. But, unlike some other regions
cadres were sent to Batangas to organize
in the eastern and western parts of the
province. In later years, NPA presence
where viable regional opposition parties
was most strongly felt in these areas.
In
Region IV-A of which Batangas is a part
did not see any strong opposition party
Batangas seems to have been quite limited
because most of the prominent politicians
perhaps due to its relatively good economic
condition. 22)
from the region who participated in the
The PDSP gained a foothold in Batangas
in 1974, when its ranking officer who was
Batanguenos
member KBL ticket were Arturo R. Tanco,
a priest approached St. Francis de Sales
Jr., Salvador H. Laurel, Soledad L. Dolor
Major Seminary in Lipa City and recruited
and Expedito lv!. Leviste.
new members from the seminarians, among
only eleven opposition candidates in the
regIOn for its twenty Batasan seats
and large, however, their influence
By
them Roy Oliveros. Then they tried to
organize peasants, workers and students.
were formed and challenged the KBL,
elections
ran
[COMELEC
under
included
1979a:
the
KBL.
In
336].
the
Those
twenty-
There were
Thus,
the
In 1977, the Kapisanan ng Magsasakang
Pilipino (KASAMA), a PDSP-backed
1978 elections in Region IV-A were onesided and not really competitive.
peasant organization, was formed III
Nasugbu and Bauan. 23 ) KASAPI, which
The all-out electoral competition among
was heavily concentrated in Metro Manila
the traditional political forces in Batangas
resumed at the time of the 1980 local
and its adjacent area, also reached Batangas.
In 1976, KASAPI cadres organized small
elections. The elections were contested
between the KBL and the NP led by the
fishermen in N asugbu through the Small
Laurels who had just split with Marcos.
There was no other traditional political
Bureau
for
Small
Fisherfolks
(SBSF)
which was also based in the Apostolic
party in the province.
was formed.
---------
-----
22) The account of the underground left here is
based on the author's interview with one
informant who was familiar with the leftist
movement in Batangas conducted on the
condition of anonymity and also an interview
with Guillermo A. Garno, Batangas City,
Batangas, January 23, 1990.
23) Interview with Roy Oliveros, Quezon City,
September 8, 1989.
No regional party
The LP's organization had
been disintegrated or,
rather, its local
building blocks, namely, local factions, had
left the party. Most of the politicians in
the province were realigned into the two
24) Interview with Boyet Montiel, Quezon City,
October 18, 1989; and interview with June Lee,
Quezon City, October 18, 1989.
221
parties. Those aspirants who were not
included in the tickets of either party ran
opposition under the leadership of the
Laurels.
as independent or unofficially carried the
banner of either party.
When UNIDO was formed, the NP
Batangas Chapter constituted practically
By this time, Governor Antonio Leviste
the sole force of UNIDO in Batangas due
and most of the incumbent mayors had
joined the KBL regardless of their party
affiliations at the time of their election in
to the virtual absence of local organizations
of other traditional opposition parties in the
province.
1971. The NP's gubernatorial candidate
against Leviste was Jose C. Laurel V,
election campaign, the NP Batangas
Chapter organized a series of boycott rallies
a son of former Ambassador Jose H.
Laurel III. The NP's mayoral candidates
of UNIDO in the major towns. But the
KBL that commanded the majority of the
were generally recruited from political
rivals of the KBL mayors in their respective
towns regardless of their previous party
mayors and far superior resources was more
active m
campaigning for
Marcos.
Lacking a credible opposition candidate,
affiliations.
The results of the elections were as
however, the election was not a heated one.
The Aquino assassination of August
follows.
Laurel V won the governorship
1983 had significant political effects in
over Leviste, while Ofelia M. Carpio
(KBL) won the vice-governorship over
Batangas as well, though they were not so
dramatic as in Metro Manila. For one,
Conrado V. Apacible (NP). Of the eight
elected provincial board members, five
legal leftist organizations which had almost
were NP, namely, Vicente Mayo, Jose
Atienza, Bienvenido Medrano, Hernando
B. Perez, and Rafael R. Recto; three were
KBL, namely, Olegario F. Cantos, Jr.,
Dominador L. Bonuan, and Maxima R.
Recto. Of the thirty-four elected municipal
During the 1981 presidential
disappeared shortly after the declaration of
martial law started to appear again. 25)
But their strength should not be overemphasized. It hardly modified the domination of Batangas politics by the traditional
political forces. On the other hand, the
traditional
opposition
steadily
gained
and city mayors, twenty-five were KBL,
ground against the KBL, though it did not
while
Positions of the vice-mayors and the
municipal and city councilors were divided
between the KBL and the NP, though some
develop in so far as to induce any significant
realignment among the local politicians.
Thus, the 1984 Batasang Pambansa
elections in Batangas were practically
independents were also elected in a number
of towns [COMELEC Undated-a; Un-
a contest between the KBL and UNIDO.
The PDP-LABAN began to organize in
dated-b; Undated-c]. Compared with most
other provinces where the KBL nearly
1983 starting from the municipalities of
Rosario and Cuenca with Dante Q.
monopolized the local elective positions,
25) Interview with a BAYAN organizer, Makati,
the
remammg
mne
were
NP.
Batangas saw a significant advance of the
222
Metro Manila, April 11, 1989.
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
Barbosa, a close associate of Ramon V.
General
Mitra, as coordinator. 26 ) But it could not
expand so much as to be able to field
a core group to establish BAYAN in
Batangas. The core group tried to in-
candidates in the elections.
There were fifteen candidates altogether.
The KBL fielded Arturo Tanco (an
corporate into BAY AN various sectoral
and multi-sectoral groups such as trade
unions, organizations of peasants, the urban
assemblyman,
poor, the youth and students, teachers and
Minister
of
Agriculture
of
BAYAN-Batangas
formed
and Harvard-trained technocrat), Manuel
Collantes (Acting Minister for Foreign
professionals, and religious groups.
Affairs), Expedito Leviste (an assemblyman
and son of the late governor -Feliciano
Batangas was held in Taal on September
28, attended by about three hundred people
Leviste) and Roberto
UNIDO fielded Jose B.
including Wigberto Tafiada and Fr. Jose
Dizon, Chairman and Vice-Chairman
Laurel, Jr., Tom Apacible, Hernando
Perez and Rafael Recto. Practically all
of BAYAN-Southern Luzon, as guest
speakers. Its initial affiliates included the
the other seven candidates were inde-
Samahang Magbubukid ng
Samahang Mangangawil 78,
congressman).
Diokno (an ex-
pendent, though one of them filed his
candidacy under the NP without the party's
The founding congress of BAYAN-
Batangas,
Malayang
Katipunang Manggagawa sa Batangas,
nomination. Those elected were three
UNIDO and one KBL candidates, namely
and Samahang Maralita Baybay Dagat
(peasant and labor sector); Barrio Sta.
Laurel, Jr., Perez, and Recto on the one
hand and Collantes on the other.
The boycott campaign of the protest
Clara Community (Batangas City based
organizations of the urban poor) ; the
movement does not seem to have had
a significant impact in Batangas, although
Kabataan
the CORD sponsored LAKBAYAN
passed the province and that there seem to
youth sector); the Concerned Teachers of
Our Lady Caysasay Academy; and member
have
organizations of the
been
its
coordinators.
Active
League of Filipino Students (LFS) and
para
sa
Demokrasya
at
N asyonalismo (KADENA) (student and
Citizen Solidarity
organizing by the protest movement in
Batangas was carried out after the for-
Movement of Batangas, a multi-sectoral
group. Individual
members of the
mation of BAYAN and BANDILA in
Southern Tagalog Attorneys for National
Democracy CSTAND) led by Tanada and
Metro Manila.
Shortly after the founding congress of
of the Medical Action Group also joined
BAYAN-Southern Luzon in Silang, Cavite
BAYAN-Batangas. 27 )
in July 1985, two officers for Southern
Luzon and two leaders in Batangas who
BANDILA, the membership of which
was heavily concentrated in Metro Manila
at the time of its founding congress in
later
became
Chairman and
Secretary
26) Interview with Dante Barbosa, Quezon City,
August 5, 1988 and October 31, 1989.
27) Interview with a BAYAN organizer, Makati,
Metro Manila, July 6, 1988.
223
August 1985, also endeavored to expand
into the provinces. Its expansion work in
Batangas as well as in other parts of Luzon
was done mainly in October and November
overlaps that of BAYAN.
It was not easy for BANDILA to
recruit members at that time because of
fear among the people. In Lipa City, for
of that year. 28 ) The social democrats
seem to have taken the initiative. Certain
BANDILA leaders, using their personal
contacts, approached organizations of
example, Fr. Panganiban arranged a twoday seminar in St. Joseph Seminary in
November and invited people from different
sectors of the city to help establish
BANDILA. About fifty people attended
the seminar and some ranking officers of
BANDILA including Canonigo and Deputy Secretary General Toy N epomuceno
workers and peasants, youth and professional groups, and church people. For
example, Roy Oliveros, now a researcher of
the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) who
later became BANDILA Deputy Secretary
General, approached 8to. Tomas Academy
Union in Sto. Tomas and Fr. Richard
Panganiban of St. Francis de Sales Major
Seminary in Lipa City. Riza Yapchiongco
contacted the Kapisanan ng Magsasakang
Pilipino (KASAMA), a peasant organi-
came and gave lectures to the participants. 31 ) Of the fifty participants, only
zation based in Bauan and Balayan. 29 )
Prior to this, Pascual Tonog, a farmer
residing in the municipality of Bauan and
six who were members of a Catholic
Charismatic group, became BANDILA
members. The six included Willie Cucio,
a youth leader, and Eldee Latayan,
a bookkeeper of a local bank. 32 ) After all
its efforts, BANDILA could establish
itself only in Bauan and Lipa City. 33)
After the 1984 Batasang Pambansa
part-time employee of a trading company
in Manila, was introduced to BANDILA
elections, some realignment among the
Batangas politicians took place. For
Secretary General Mar Canonigo by Raul
Daza, Tonog's provincemate in Samar,
in Salonga's residence in Pasig in September. Canonigo gave Tonog an authority to organize BANDILA in Bauan.
Tonog approached the workers of a shipyard
of the Philippine National Oil Company,
farmers and students. 30) Interestingly, the
sectoral composition of the groups approached by BANDILA apparently
example, Maxima Recto, a provincial
board member elected as KBL, joined
UNIDO, while Ben Medrano and Rafael
Recto became identified with the Marcos
Administration. Some mayors also switched
their parties.
Local elections had been scheduled for
May 1986. It seems that the local politicians started to make some preparatory
moves for the elections by 1985. But most
28) Interview with Solphie Confiado, Makati,
Metro Manila, January 6, 1988.
29) Interview with Roy Oliveros, Manila, June 27,
1988.
30) Interview with Pascual Tonog, Quezon City,
August 17, 1988.
31) Interview with Richard Panganiban, Lipa City,
January 7, 1988.
32) Interview with Eldee Latayan, Lipa City,
February 24, 1987.
33) Interview with Pascual Tonog, Quezon City,
August 7, 1988.
224
M.
KIMURA:
Martial Law and the Realignment of Political Parties in the Philippines
of them kept from embarking on all-out
preparations and took a wait-and-see
attitude, because the possibility of the
snap election was looming.
Most of the opposition politicians were
supporting the presidential candidacy of
Salvador Laurel, their Kababayan (province
mate). The CAPM was also launched in
Batangas under the provincial chairmanship
of Dante Barbosa. 34 ) But it does not seem
to have gained momentum so much as in
Metro Manila.
When the snap election was called, the
KBL
campaigned
for
Marcos
and
Tolentino. Some KBL politicians, however, reportedly campaigned for Marcos
and Laurel. The Marcos-Tolentino Movement was also established III Batangas;
and Ben Medrano became its provincial
coordinator [MTM
1986: 26-27].
UNI-
DO campaigned for Aquino and Laurel.
BANDILA also campaigned for the opposition candidates separately from UNIDO.
BAYAN-Batangas adopted the "conscience
vote" position which was the decision of
BAYAN-Southern Tagalog in spite of the
decision of its national leadership to boycott
the election. 35 )
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